Emails Expose Cuomo’s Direct Role in Halving Nursing Home COVID Death Toll in State Report, NYT Reveals

 

Edited by: TJVNews.com

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the handling of nursing home deaths in New York remains one of the most hotly debated aspects of former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration. According to a report in The New York Times, new revelations point to Cuomo’s direct involvement in altering a state report that drastically underreported the true extent of nursing home deaths due to COVID-19. These allegations have prompted intense scrutiny, as they challenge Cuomo’s public denials and raise questions about transparency during a critical period of the pandemic.

At the heart of this controversy is the death of thousands of elderly nursing home residents during the early stages of the pandemic. Cuomo’s administration initially downplayed the number of fatalities, reporting numbers that were later revealed to be undercounted by more than 50%.

The controversy surrounding the underreporting of nursing home deaths centers on a report issued by the New York State Department of Health in July 2020. This report was criticized for significantly downplaying the number of deaths that occurred in nursing homes. As was reported by the NYT, while the official tally of nursing home deaths stood at about 6,000, later investigations revealed the true figure may have been over 9,000, with the report underreporting these numbers by more than 50%.

Emails obtained by The New York Times and congressional documents cast doubt on Cuomo’s claim that he had little involvement in the report’s preparation. According to these documents, Cuomo’s senior staff was actively engaged in editing the report before its release. An email from June 2020, reportedly sent by one of Cuomo’s assistants to senior staff, included the message, “Governor’s edits are attached for your review.” This email directly contradicts Cuomo’s claim, made during a congressional hearing, that he had no recollection of reviewing or making changes to the report.

Cuomo’s testimony before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in June 2024 has further fueled the controversy. While Cuomo was not under oath during this hearing, he was explicitly warned that he could face criminal charges for knowingly making false statements. The New York Times reported that during his testimony, Cuomo repeatedly stated that he could not recall reviewing or editing the state report before its release on July 7, 2020.

However, the emails obtained by The New York Times suggest otherwise. These communications show that Cuomo personally edited the report, adding language that appeared to shift blame for the spread of COVID-19 in nursing homes to staff, visitors, and family members. This narrative downplayed the possibility that the state’s policies, particularly the controversial March 2020 directive that required nursing homes to admit COVID-19-positive patients, had contributed to the high death toll.

Despite his reputation for avoiding the use of email, The New York Times reported that none of the emails involved in the investigation were directly sent by Cuomo himself. However, the paper’s investigation uncovered communications that suggest the former governor’s senior staff was acting under his explicit direction. In a high-profile Capitol Hill hearing on September 10, Cuomo’s repeated denials of his involvement led to a fiery confrontation with Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), who bluntly accused Cuomo of being a “lying sack of s—t” during the proceedings.

This directive, issued at the peak of the pandemic’s first wave, required nursing homes to accept COVID-positive patients who had been discharged from hospitals, ostensibly to free up hospital capacity. However, critics argue this policy was disastrous, as it exposed highly vulnerable elderly residents to the virus. Cuomo’s own staff later referred to the March directive as “the great debacle” in internal communications.

The altered July 2020 report and the subsequent revelations about Cuomo’s involvement have led to accusations of a cover-up. The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic has described Cuomo’s actions as part of a broader effort to minimize the perceived failures of his administration during the early stages of the pandemic, as per the information provided in The New York Times report. The underreporting of nursing home deaths allowed Cuomo to tout New York’s handling of the pandemic as a success story, while critics argue that the true scale of the tragedy was concealed from the public.

The backlash against Cuomo intensified as the true extent of the nursing home deaths became known. In early 2021, New York Attorney General Letitia James released a report indicating that nursing home deaths may have been undercounted by as much as 50%, corroborating earlier claims, as was pointed out in The New York Times report. Following this revelation, the Cuomo administration revised the official tally, increasing the number of nursing home deaths by thousands.

One of the most vocal critics at the hearing was Vivian Zayas, co-founder of Voice for Seniors, a group formed in response to the devastating toll COVID-19 took on elderly populations in nursing homes. Zayas, whose mother died in a Long Island nursing home after contracting COVID-19, did not mince words in her criticism of Cuomo. “If he lied to Congress, he committed a crime. He should definitely be investigated,” Zayas stated passionately. Her words reflect the anger of many who lost loved ones and felt deceived by Cuomo’s handling of the crisis, as highlighted by The New York Times.

Cuomo’s spokesperson, Rich Azzopardi, has been quick to push back on the accusations surrounding the emails. In a statement reported by The New York Times, Azzopardi doubled down on the claim that the virus was primarily spread by nursing home staff, not by the state’s policies, which required COVID-positive patients to be discharged back into nursing homes. Azzopardi pointed to the findings of the original report, which largely aligned with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines in place at the time, arguing that Cuomo’s decisions were based on the best available knowledge at the height of the pandemic. He also emphasized that Cuomo had fully cooperated with the congressional inquiry.

 

Nevertheless, the question of Cuomo’s personal responsibility for the inaccuracies in the state’s nursing home death report remains a source of controversy. According to The New York Times, emails from June 2020 reveal that Cuomo’s senior aides made significant edits to the New York State Department of Health’s report, which reduced the official number of deaths related to nursing homes by excluding residents who died after being transferred to hospitals. This exclusion skewed the data and made it appear as though nursing homes were safer than they were, potentially minimizing the impact of a key policy that critics say contributed to the deaths of thousands of elderly New Yorkers.

The fallout from Cuomo’s handling of the pandemic was not limited to the nursing home deaths. In August 2021, Cuomo stepped down from office amid a separate scandal involving sexual misconduct allegations. His resignation marked a steep fall from grace for the once highly regarded leader who had gained national attention for his daily COVID-19 briefings. However, with current New York City Mayor Eric Adams embroiled in his own series of scandals, rumors have circulated that Cuomo may be considering a political comeback. According to The New York Times, Cuomo is said to be weighing a potential run for mayor of New York City, a move that would likely reignite the controversies surrounding both his pandemic policies and the misconduct allegations.

Despite the ongoing investigations, Cuomo’s future in politics remains uncertain. While his spokesperson insists that the former governor acted appropriately and followed federal guidelines, the emails obtained by The New York Times suggest that key decisions made during the pandemic may have been more politically motivated than Cuomo has publicly acknowledged. The accusations that Cuomo deliberately misled the public and underreported nursing home deaths could be a significant hurdle in any future political aspirations.